As the 25th anniversary of Liar Liar comes around this year, some fans have been looking back at one of Jim Carrey’s most accessible comedies. Many audiences consider the family-friendly Liar Liar to be one of Jim Carrey’s best movies.
It’s hard to imagine Liar Liar being made without Jim Carrey’s impressive trademark physical comedy. However, there are interesting details behind the filming of his classic scenes, as well as the general production of the movie. Liar Liar might have turned out very differently under other circumstances, but most fans are glad it didn’t.
Contents
- 1 The Director Had Worked With Jim Carrey Before
- 2 Lieing Bloopers
- 3 Sara Paxton’s Film Debut
- 4 Jennifer Tilly Studied Jim Carrey’s Performance
- 5 There Is A Similar Twilight Zone Episode
- 6 Carrey Gives A Prophetic Line
- 7 Filming Was Physically Demanding For Carrey
- 8 The Bathroom Sequence Was Cut Down
- 9 B.B. King
- 10 Fire Marshall Bill Shows Up
The Director Had Worked With Jim Carrey Before
Liar Liar gave Jim Carrey a movie where he plays a regular guy, unlike the cartoonish heroes of his previous movies like Dumb and Dumber and The Mask.
However, fans might not know that Tom Shadyac directed Liar Liar, who had previously helped advance Carrey’s mainstream career with Ace Ventura: Pet Detective. They would later work together on Bruce Almighty.
Lieing Bloopers
Fans of the movie know Carrey’s Fletcher Reede can’t lie for a day after his disappointed son’s wish comes true. It results in the events of the film unfolding in several hilarious moments. However, observant viewers might notice that a few lies slip into the script after Fletcher is meant to be completely truthful.
For example, when Fletcher’s secretary Greta quits following Fletcher’s truthful answers to her inquiries, he scrambles to get her to stay. He says he “didn’t understand the question,” to cover himself, even though this isn’t true.
Sara Paxton’s Film Debut
Viewers know Sara Paxton from movies like The Front Runner and shows like This Is Us. However, she first comes to film audiences in a small part in Liar Liar.
Fans might remember seeing some familiar faces at Fletcher’s son Max’s birthday party. A young Paxton plays one of Max’s friends during this sequence.
Jennifer Tilly Studied Jim Carrey’s Performance
Devotees know Jennifer Tilly makes for one of the best performances in Liar Liar in her role as Samantha Cole. Fletcher represents her in her divorce case.
Tilly was honored to work with Carrey following her starring role in the Wachowski sisters’ Bound the previous year. To celebrate Liar Liar‘s 25th anniversary, Tilly took to Instagram saying watching Carrey was “a master class in physical comedy.”
There Is A Similar Twilight Zone Episode
To some classic television fans, Liar Liar seems a little too familiar upon first viewing. Some audiences have noted the plot of the movie bears a resemblance to a Twilight Zone episode.
“The Whole Truth” presents a story about a car salesman who similarly can’t lie, even having a discussion with his assistant about a raise, just like Fletcher. It isn’t the scariest episode of The Twilight Zone, but its resemblance is rather eerie.
Carrey Gives A Prophetic Line
During a courtroom scene, Carrey’s Fletcher is fully engaged in his downward spiral. At first, he thinks his client Samantha Cole isn’t going to show up, allowing him to push off the proceedings.
However, she soon walks into court and he sings, “here she comes to wreck the day!” This is a reference to the Mighty Mouse theme song, something Andy Kaufman used in a bit. A few years later, Carrey would play Kaufman in Man On The Moon.
Filming Was Physically Demanding For Carrey
Even though Carrey plays an everyman lawyer, he presents a similar amount of physical comedy in Liar Liar as Ace Ventura’s adventures in Africa in When Nature Calls.
In the Lakefield Ledger, Carrey said the amount of physical work he had to do in the movie was quite demanding. He said he would go home exhausted after filming. Fans can only imagine how Carrey felt after the bathroom beat-up sequence.
The Bathroom Sequence Was Cut Down
In a Bobbie Wygant interview, Jim Carrey talks about the scene in the bathroom where Fletcher beats himself up in an attempt to get himself out of court.
Carrey says there was “more to” the scene, but it got “demented.” He says he came to the set a week before and came up with ideas for the sequence. Furthermore, he said the whole thing was “really painful.”
B.B. King
Fans might say one of the most iconic moments in Liar Liar comes when Fletcher first tries to break the spell and get a lie out. He takes a pen off his desk and can’t follow through with calling it red.
The sequence ends with Fletcher losing control of his body and appearing with the word “blue” written all over his face. However, eagle-eyed fans will notice “B.B. King” written on Carrey’s left cheek.
Fire Marshall Bill Shows Up
It may have taken some fans years of watching Liar Liar to notice it, but Carrey puts one of his most legendary characters into the movie in one of its last scenes.
After Fletcher’s wife’s flight is canceled due to his antics, Fletcher is put on a stretcher. In the background, fans can see Jim Carrey’s timeless In Living Color character Fire Marshall Bill among the first responders.